CONGENITAL NEUROBLASTOMA: A RARE CASE OF PLURIVISCERAL METASTATIC DISSEMINATION

Abstract

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common neonatal tumors. It involves children in early infancy and originates from neural crest cells of the adrenal gland medulla or sympathetic glia. We report an unusual case of congenital poorly differentiated neuroblastoma with multiple metastases in the brain and cerebellum. The biophysical profile showed a prominent polyhydramnios at 25.3 weeks of gestation; meantime, the mother was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The mass was detected during the third ultrasonographic examination at 31.4 weeks of gestation. The fetus lived only one day after birth and the postmortem examinations were performed subsequently. An autopsy was performed both to understand the causes of death and to identify any profiles of professional responsibility. The histological examination confirmed the diagnosis: a neoplasm arising from the lower right limb and pelvis.

Keywords

• neuroblastoma
• congenital
• neoplasm metastases
• forensic autopsy